1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to trays that are used for the packing and shipping of products for sale, in particular products that are prepared, packed and shipped in a condition in which they can be transferred directly from the shipping tray to a display case (“case ready” food products). The present invention is directed in particular, to packing and shipping methods and structures, for facilitated handling of plural ones of such trays, which can be stacked and maintained in a stacked configuration during shipping.
2. Prior Art
Primary package trays, such as those constructed of molded plastic, molded foam, or paperboard, configured for the shipping of products, such as food products, in which the trays are configured to be stacked and maintained in a stacked configuration during shipping, are known. Such trays are used in the shipment of food products, such as case ready meat products, produce, etc.
Such products are in the prior art, shipped in corrugated package designs typically including an outer shipping container carton (e.g., “RSC”, “Bliss”, Die Cut Wrap or Lidded Tray configurations, as those are known as and referred to by those of skill in the art of food packing and shipping), and multiple pieces of inner packing, usually consisting of corrugated layer pads and “U”-pads (scored sheets, configured in a “U” shape and placed inside the shipper, one per shipper when used, with the legs in a downward direction so that it may serve as a shelf, dividing the amount of weight the layers of stacked trays must support). When the layers of product are added to the container, the separating layer pads and/or a shelf are used to displace the weight of the layers over a larger area, but this does not eliminate each of the lower layers from carrying some of the weight of the layers above. Because none of the inner packaging provides any real stacking support in a unitized (palletized) load format, this usually requires the outer box to be constructed of a heavy weight and costly corrugated substrate.
These and other desirable characteristics of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, including claims, and drawings.